Reducing the exhaust NOx emission of diesel engines has become a major challenge over the past decade and will continue to be the major focus in the future due to the continuing stringent emission requirements for diesel engines. Engines exhaust NOx reduction can be achieved by combustion optimization and/or exhaust gas aftertreatment. In reality, combustion optimization with Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) can only reduce the exhaust NOx to a certain level, further NOx reduction requires exhaust gas aftertreatment. The urea Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) Engine Aftertreatment System (EAS) is one of the main aftertreatment technologies with a high potential for reducing NOx.
The urea SCR technology is a very efficient steady state NOx reduction approach that has been successfully applied to stationary electrical generation sets powered by diesel engines with very stringent emission requirements. One of the greatest challenges in NOx reduction for SCR EAS is when the target engine exhaust NOx level reduces to a very low level. The steady state and transient control must be accurate enough to avoid ammonia (NH3) slip, otherwise an alternate pollutant is released. A baseline control, basically a step control as a function of the desired NOx reduction quantity, has been developed and evaluated demonstrating poor transient performance and large steady state error.
Accordingly, improved control systems are needed to (a) improve transient NOx reduction and (b) reduce ammonia slip, especially when the engine is in transition. The present invention is directed towards meeting these and many other needs.